Power optimization for universal hash function data path using divide-and-concatenate technique

We present an architecture level low power design technique called divide-and-concatenate for universal hash functions based on the following observations: (i) the power consumption of a w-bit array multiplier and associated universal hash data path decreases as O(w⁴) if its clock rate remains constant, (ii) two universal hash functions are equivalent if they have the same collision probability property. In the proposed approach we divide a w-bit data path (with collision probability 2^-w) into two/four w/2-bit data paths (each with collision probability 2^-w/2) and concatenate their results to construct an equivalent w-bit data path (with a collision probability 2^-w). A popular low power technique that uses parallel data paths saves 62.10% dynamic power consumption incurring 102% area overhead. In contrast, the divide-and-concatenate technique saves 55.44% dynamic power consumption with only 16% area overhead.